


Waiting For Rain in This Drought

by cause_it_rhymes



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Bromance to Romance, Canon Compliant, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Movie Reference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-19 03:13:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29619705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cause_it_rhymes/pseuds/cause_it_rhymes
Summary: Abed realizes he's never been to one of Troy's football games, and decides it's about time that changed. But in order to make them the A-plot for the week, he needs to put some kind of interesting twist on it, and turning their bromance into a romance might just be what the narrative needs.
Relationships: Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Comments: 10
Kudos: 75





	Waiting For Rain in This Drought

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not really sure when this would take place in the series, maybe the middle to end of season one? There aren't any spoilers of major plotpoints, and you don't need to have watched more than a few episodes to follow along.

Jeff and Abed walked in comfortable silence to the study room one morning, or at least it was comfortable for Abed. He was never sure what the difference was between comfortable and uncomfortable silence, seeing as every quiet moment was enjoyable for him. It didn’t matter though, because they soon passed a large poster with Troy’s face on it that hadn’t been there the day before, and both stopped. Upon closer examination, the poster was of the entire Greendale football team, but Troy’s face had been blown up to ten times the size of the others. The bottom of the poster read _“Watch Troy Barnes take the Greendale Human Beings to victory over the Red Rocks Foxes TONIGHT! Be there or be excommunicated!”_ The word choice could use some work, but the message definitely got across. And the graphic image of the Greendale Human Being stabbing a fox in the heart and getting coated in its blood would definitely be waking Abed up in the middle of the night from now on.

“Are you gonna go?” Jeff asked, turning to Abed, and his eyebrows furrowed as he seemed to realize something. “Wait, Abed, have you even gone to one of Troy’s football games before? I can’t remember you ever being there with us.”

Abed shook his head, eyes still locked on the poster. “I don’t like football, and Troy knows that. He understands that forcing me to sit through two hours of something unenjoyable once a week would make me grow to resent him, or at least make my hands numb.” He looked down at his fingers solemnly and mumbled, “I hate when my hands are numb.”

Jeff rolled his eyes and turned Abed’s body so they were making eye contact. “Look, Abed,” he started, in full Winger mode, “Troy is your friend. Your _best_ friend. And best friends make sacrifices for each other. How boring would a friendship be if the two people liked exactly the same things and never got to try anything new? Sometimes it’s good to explore outside your comfort zone, and I can’t think of a better reason to do that than to support Troy in his big game. So what do you say, Abed? Will you put aside your discomfort and your numb hands to give encouragement to your classmate, your roommate, your best friend? Isn’t Troy worth it?”

Abed knew Jeff used dramatic phrasing to make everything seem more important than it actually was, and this was no exception. But he figured it was high time he went to a football game, and this could be a good opportunity to be the A-plot for the first time in a few weeks, so why not? “I guess I could give it a try,” he shrugged, and he and Jeff continued down the hallway towards the library. “I mean, Troy did face his rat fear for me, I can face my football discomfort for him.”

“Great,” Jeff nodded as they entered the library and turned into the study room, where everyone was already seated around the table. “Troy will be happy, I know it.”

“What will I be happy about?” Troy asked, looking up from his phone to give both Jeff and Abed curious and excited glances as they made to take their seats at the table.

“Jeff convinced me it’s about time I went to one of your football games, seeing as you’ve faced your fears for me and I don’t even have a fear of football, I just don’t like it. So I’m going to attend the game tonight with the rest of you guys.” Abed gestured around the table, where Shirley was saying how nice that was and Annie was “aww”ing and Britta gave him a thumbs up and a smile. Pierce was busy trying to get the voice control on his phone to work again; he didn’t even seem aware there was a conversation going on.

But Troy looked worried as he pinched his eyebrows together and touched Abed’s arm gently. “But what about your hands?” he murmured, genuinely concerned.

“For God’s sake, the man can wear gloves,” Jeff cut in, rolling his eyes and leaning back in his chair. “It is not the end of the world if Abed’s hands get cold, okay? That’s a part of life that he’s going to have to accept one day, and why not let that day be today?” Troy sat back in his chair and nodded, noticeably relaxing.

“Alright, well, if you’re cool with it, then I’m totally cool with it,” he said, and reached out to do the handshake with Abed. “This is gonna be so sick, you can see me play and everything! And it’s a good game too, those Foxes are gonna get their asses handed-”

Shirley coughed loudly, and Troy stopped mid-sentence, raising his eyebrows at her discomfort but refraining from continuing his thought nonetheless. The group discussed the Spanish homework from the night before and each of their problems at home until the bell rang. Abed tuned them out a little, though, as his mind had begun to wonder what would need to happen in order for his plotline to reach A-tier. He didn’t have too much to compete with, just Pierce and Britta’s bonding episode and Annie and Jeff working out their sexual tension while Shirley and the Dean realize they both love gossiping about the others, but that was already a lot for one week. Abed would need some kind of twist, something that takes viewers by surprise but also that they should’ve seen coming, in order to ensure his spot as the main event. The more he thought about it, the less he suppressed the voice in the back of his head that was always there but never seemed relevant until now.

This was the week for him and Troy to start a romance.

* * * * *

When the group met up for lunch that day, Abed took a mildly confused Jeff aside by the vending machines. “So I was trying to figure out how to make Troy and I the A-plot for today, because we haven’t been the main focus for a few weeks,” he started, and Jeff rolled his eyes for the third time that day. “And I have an idea, but I can’t figure out which romantic movie climax to reenact tonight. There aren’t too many that happen on a football field that both Troy and I have seen and would be able to act out accurately.”

Jeff sighed before the words caught up to him and his eyes bugged. “Abed, what do you mean romantic movie?”

“Troy and I are doing a romance plot this week, I’ve decided that’s what the show needs.”

Jeff uncrossed his arms and gently grabbed Abed’s elbow. “Abed, buddy, you can’t just create real-life romances because the ‘narrative’ calls for it,” He was talking in his condescending voice that he used when he thought Abed needed a reality check or was leaning too hard on his life-is-a-tv-show gimmick. “If you think you want to create some grand romantic gesture for Troy, that’s great, we all kind of figured, but it has to be because you want to, not because the viewers want you to.”

Abed looked up at Jeff and nodded. “I get that, and I know it seems like that’s the only reason I want to do this since I don’t really express myself in a normal sense. But I like Troy, and I’ve thought for a while that our bromance could survive the change into a romance. And I think he feels the same way, so I just need a good romantic movie climax that takes place on a football field that both of us can recreate together. I’m leaning towards _A Cinderella Story_ at the moment- even though it’s extremely predictable and unoriginal, it’s a classic, and Troy loves Chad Michael Murray.”

Jeff let go of Abed’s elbow and gave him a small smile. “You’d know better than I would,” he said, nodding encouragingly. “Just let me know if you need anything.” He and Abed exchanged finger guns and retreated back to the lunch table to join the others.

* * * * *

Abed refused to let his hands shake as he made his way to the Greendale men’s locker room that night. There was half an hour until the football game started, which meant the team should be changing or making a game plan or something like that right about now. Abed only knew as much about football as movies taught him, meaning very little regarding the actual rules of the game and a lot about trusting your teammates and persevering in the face of hardship. With that in mind he swung open the locker room door to find the players scattered at different lockers, putting on helmets and tying cleats. Was that a pregnant woman in the corner? It didn’t matter, because Abed had spotted Troy towards the back and was already making a beeline for him, intent on being in the locker room for as little time as possible.

Troy looked surprised when he realized Abed was standing right next to him at his locker, and put down the chest protector he was changing into. Fate must have been on Abed’s side, because Troy’s first words were “Listen, I don’t think you’re supposed to be in-”

“No _you_ listen,” Abed cut off, transitioning into his Hilary Duff impersonation seamlessly. Troy’s eyebrows shot up, but he stopped talking. “You turned out to be exactly who I thought you were.” Now Troy backed up a bit, clearly still disoriented about what was going on but seemingly interested nonetheless. Abed continued. “I never pretended to be somebody else. It’s been me all along. And it was _me_ who got hurt in front of everyone.” He sighed dramatically. “Look, I didn’t come here to yell at you, okay? I came to tell you I know what it feels like to be afraid to show who you are. I was. But not anymore.”

At this point, Troy seemed aware that a reenactment was being done, but still a little confused as to what it was of. He wasn’t the only one trying to figure it out, though, seeing as they had started to draw a little crowd. Which was honestly perfect for the scene, so Abed kept going. “And the thing is, I don’t care what people think about me because I believe in myself and I know that things are going to be okay. But even though I have no family, and no job, and no money for college, it’s you that I feel sorry for.” Troy definitely knew what was happening now, and was just watching in awe as the scene unfolded in front of him. “I know the guy that sent those emails is somewhere inside of you, but I can’t wait for him because waiting for you is like waiting for rain in this drought.” Troy mouthed the next three words as Abed said them, and the crowd around them held their breath. 

“Useless and disappointing.”

Troy broke out into a grin as half the football players clapped and half just walked away in confusion. Someone blew a raspberry nearby, and Troy shouted, “Shut up Leonard! I know it took you seven years to finish high school!” Leonard just muttered “nerds” and stumbled away, leaving Troy and Abed alone by Troy’s locker.

“That was so cool,” Troy breathed, eyes lit up. Then the implications of the speech seemed to hit him, and he tilted his head in interest. “Are- uh… Abed? What am I- are you-”

But he didn’t get to finish his question because Abed gave a small smile of encouragement, muttered “good luck”, and briskly walked out of the locker room, leaving Troy to figure out what he had to do next.

* * * * *

Abed frowned and rubbed his gloved hands together as the clock ticked down during the fourth quarter of the game. The reenactment had not gone quite as planned, because as Troy predicted, the Human Beings had wiped the floor with the Foxes. The scoreboard read 24-7, a score Abed hadn’t even realized was possible in football, and there was no room for a suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat moment where the home team pulls through with one second left. And there was also the whole fact that Troy had been playing like it was a regular game, and hadn’t yet professed his hatred for the sport and the coach, who was supposed to be his dad but was actually someone named [Paul Randolph](https://vsch.fandom.com/wiki/Greendale_Community_College#:~:text=The%20Greendale%20Community%20College%20Human,2nd%20year%20as%20head%20coach.).

Annie noticed Abed’s distraught face and nudged him with her shoulder. “Hey, you knew it wasn’t likely that he was gonna run off the field with nine seconds left of a big game and climb the bleachers to you,” she reassured, carefully holding her prop water bottle with both hands as if the lid was going to fall off; she was very excited about her role. “Just wait for the end of the game, he’ll come, he’s just waiting until it’s all over because he doesn’t want to disappoint his teammates. He’ll come.” She said the last part gently, looking at Abed with an encouraging smile as he nodded in agreement. He knew it was a lot to ask of someone who actually liked football, so he shouldn’t have expected Troy to give up on a team that needed him just for some homage that he was dragged into. Doesn’t mean it didn’t sting a little, or wedge a bit of doubt into Abed’s rapidly beating heart.

Eventually, after what seemed like ages of watching random guys run around some grass holding and throwing and sometimes kicking a ball, the time ran out and the game was called. Greendale won and Troy was a hero, being picked up by his cheering teammates and carried over to the bench where fans were already starting to descend onto the field to congratulate him. Abed stared with bated breath as Troy seemed to say something to the other players, grinning wildly, before looking up at the bleachers. Right at Abed.

It was happening. 

Troy’s smile could’ve broken his face as he jogged to the bleachers, climbing the steps two at a time until he neared Abed’s row and slowed. Abed had already been scooting past people in order to meet him in the middle, and they both got to the end of the row at the same time. Abed tilted his head, feigning confusion. “Troy,” he started, looking him in the eyes, “what are you doing?”

Troy panted a little from all the running as his face grew serious. “Something I should’ve done a long time ago.”

They met in the middle to mild gasps and cheers around them, kissing like it was the last time they’d ever get to do it, mouths opening and tongues meeting and-

A drop of water landed on Troy’s cheek and he pulled away, looking confused until he noticed Annie and her water. He chuckled a little then looked back at Abed, eyes crinkling and bright. “I’m sorry I waited for the rain.”

“It’s okay,” Abed replied, smiling back, and then went in for another kiss as the chorus of _Hear You Me_ swelled in his head. Who cares if it hadn’t been exactly right, this reenactment had been his best by far, and he didn’t think he would ever be able to top it. Nor would he ever want to. 

_May angels lead you in_

_Hear you me my friend_

_On sleepless roads, the sleepless go_

_May angels lead you in_

**THE END**

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading this!! Let me know anything you liked or didn't like, I'm always open to constructive criticism :)


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